Washington DC Trip Recap

WOW! That about sums up the trip in whole. What an awesome time sight seeing, learning more about our nation's history, and rekindling friendships.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007
So, Stacey and I left Wednesday April 11 from Oakland. Our flight was supposed to leave at 6:15am (yes, we were there by 5am!), flying straight to WDC. But after some computer problems at the airport and everyone on the flight was on the plane we left close to 7:30am.

After landing, getting our luggage (thank God!), and greeting Melissa and Macie, we drove to our home for 5 days in Oakton.

The countryside was beautiful, homes were gorgeous. We dropped our bags off, grabbed our sweaters and headed to Georgetown. What a great shopping area. We walked around a bit, went down to the Potomac River, walked around some more and had some dinner. Macie really LOVES her pizza! Actually, so did I, mine not hers.



Thursday, April 12, 2007
After getting a great night's sleep, and trying to adjust to east coast time, we headed off to Mount Vernon, home of George Washington. We were blessed with sunshine and only mild sprinkles. The property and house was beautiful, the back porch overlooks the Potomac. After a quick lunch we headed back out, walked through the museum where we learned more about the life of George Washington.




FYI: There is a National Treasure 2 in the process of being filmed. One of the scenes is being filmed at Mount Vernon, just not while we were there, but the set was still up!

After Mount Vernon, Macie took a nap in the car while we drove into Washington DC to pick up Mark from George Washington University. From there we went to the Lincoln Monument and looked across the reflection pond to the Washington Monument.



Then we quickly ran down to the Korean Memorial.

Mark played with Macie while Melissa, Stacey, and I ran from Monument to Memorial. We then went home and had yummy Thai food for dinner.

Friday, April 13, 2007
Mark was very gracious today and volunteered to watch Macie for half the day so Melissa, Stacey and I could go on a tour of the Capitol without a stroller in tow. So with an early start, we caught the bus at 8am and took the Metro into the City for our 9:15am tour. The tour was amazing!
Standing in the very center of Washington DC and the Capitol building.

First Supreme Court room.

One of California's two statues in the Capitol, Father Junipero Sierra (and our tour guide, Congressman Dennis Cardoza's intern Tom from Stockton).

After the tour, standing in Cardoza's office with Tom.

Let me tell you one thing about Washington DC, it's not easy to get around the city because of the funky streets. There are 4 quadrants in the city and each quadrants have letter and number streets. So there are numerous 22nd Streets. Odd, and confusing, I know! Melissa and I even had to pull a map out, once or twice... But look at the Capitol!


After the Capitol tour we made our way to the Air and Space Smithsonian. Currently, a small portion of the exhibits from the American History Smithsonian are on display at the A&S Museum due to renovations. Of course there was a line to see the exhibits though.



From the A&S Museum we headed to pick up Macie from Mark at GWU and then catch a shuttle to the Kennedy Center. The Kennedy Center was pretty neat. About 150 countries each gave a gift to the Center while it was being build, anywhere from art on the walls to crystal chandlers. Macie got to take advantage of the long hallway to run some energy off, as well as charm the passer-byers.




After the Kennedy Center we head back (on shuttle) to GWU to pick up Mark for dinner. We walked to this really cute little mall that had a great Italian restaurant, Bertucci. The food was excellent. And Macie got her pizza.




After dinner, Mark went back to working on his paper while the rest of us took a hike down to the WWII Memorial and Washington Monument.





Saturday, April 14, 2007
Saturday Stacey and I ventured out on our own. We took the Metro all by ourselves to Arlington Cemetery. We saw the Eternal Flame by JFK's grave sight, the Changing of the Guards guarding the tomb of the unknown soldiers, and the Arlington House.





After Arlington, we made our way into the City via the Metro to the Natural History Smithsonian. After having a quick bite to eat we ran through the fossils, and made it to the "Oh shiny" room where the Hope Diamond Lives. We then made our way to an Orchid Exhibit. Mind you, we quickly made our way through this museum because we thought they closed at 5:30, but for some reason they weren't closing until 7:30... which we found out on our way out.
Big head and little arms...

Oh Shiny!



Pretty flowers!




When we were done at the Natural History Smithsonian, we decided we had time to make it down the the Jefferson Monument. It was quite a hike from where we were, but we forged ahead. After our hike, we made our way back to the Metro station where we made our way home to dinner.





Sunday, April 15, 2007
Our last day of busy touring, and the one day that it really rained. We were going to take the Metro into the City, but ended up driving in to avoid having to be outside too much. So Melissa dropped Stacey and I at the Vietnam Memorial, she waited in the car with Macie while we quickly ran through it.

She then dropped us off outside of the White House Visitor Center. We walked through that then ran across the street to the White House.



After the White House, we drove down to the Holocaust Museum. The Holocaust Museum was unbelievable. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the permanent exhibit. Words cannot describe what they show in the 3 floors of information and documentation. When we were done at the museum, we drove home to rest, pack, hang out and have dinner. Macie even wanted to help in decided what to have, which was of course pizza.


Monday, April 16, 2007
This was our departure day. We packed our stuff up and headed to the airport at about 10:30am. Stacey and I flew from Dulles Airport to Denver where we had a 3 plus hour layover. We walked around the terminal a few times, had dinner, and almost decided to take advantage of free tickets from our over booked flight. But we came home on our scheduled flight and made it back into California around 7:45pm or so.

The trip was fast a furious but definitely a great time. I recommend everyone go to Washington DC at least once in their life.

Leaving on a jet plane...

Don't know when I'll be back again. Actually I do, I'm flying away 30 hours and I'll be back on the 16th. When I'm back I'll be posting pictures for your enjoyment. Pray for safe travels for Stacey and I.

It's been awhile!

Look at me!


BLAH!


Yummy egg!

Happy Easter!

I'm excited for this weekend for a few reasons...

1) It's a weekend! I'm sad to admit that I live for the weekends. So, TGIF!

2) In 4 days I leave to go on vacation. 2 more working days, a 5 hour flight (mind you it leaves at 6:15am!), and a hug later (from former roommate, whom I'm visiting) I'll be in Washington DC! It's going to be fantastic! (No if only the Congressman's office will get my tour information to me!)


3) One of my absolute favorite is egg salad sandwiches. I love them! Let me tell you my family's tradition, ummm... kinda embarrassing... we still hunt for eggs. Yes, I admit it, my siblings and I (ages 26, 23, 20, and 19) still hunt. After church "the easter bunny" (aka mom and/or dad) hide them while we read the paper. But the bunny gets better at hiding them every year. We find them, account for them to hope that there aren't any left for the dogs or the next year (sad to admit, but yes we don't always find them all), then we take off the pretty shells that we colored the day before and we (I) make a HUGE batch of egg salad sandwiches for lunch. I'm salivating just thinking about them...

4) I get to celebrate the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of my Lord Jesus Christ. Don't get me wrong, I thank God ALL THE TIME that it wasn't me on the cross dying for my own sins, but that He sent His Son to do the job for me. But this weekend I get to celebrate with the rest of the believing world what Jesus did for each one of us.
"He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart."

April = New Month

My New Month Resolutions for April are:

1. Actively seek God in my day to day life, worshiping Him and bring Him glory.

2. No pastries, desserts, and nibblings from Hilmar Cheese. They are delicious. But they are the death of me.

3. Yep, this one again... Lose 5 pounds. Time to get seriously serious, summer is just around the corner.

4. Go somewhere out of the area. I got this one in the bag!

5. Still Target in moderation. Shopping only by a list of needs. And no, that does not mean that I'll be making the list as I shop. :)

6. Heavily pursue finding a new job.

And for the Lent season I have given up soda.

March Resolution Results...

Below are my March resolutions. The bold comments are the results for the end of the month.

1. Actively seek God in my day to day life, worshiping Him and bring Him glory.
Actively seek daily, yes. Short prayers here and there, wanting to do God's will not my own. I guess you can call this a work in progress resolution though.

2. No myspace. You still want to leave me a comment or message you can at my myspace page, I just won't be checking them until April 1st. And everyone can hold me accountable since it shows last login date on my profile.
YEAH! Success! I have not been on myspace in a month. Was it hard? Honestly not really. What have I learned? That there are many other things to waste my time on, it doesn't all have to be on myspace. It's officially been April for 24 minutes and I STILL haven't gone on myspace. :)

3. No makeup. Yes, I'll still be wearing it, I just won't be purchasing it for the month. I have a ton of makeup, and it's time to reduce inventory.
Check. I think I did get to throw away some stuff I used up.

4. Lose 5 pounds. Same as last month and the next 9 months of the year. Time to get serious, June is only 3 months away.
I think my monthly total was somewhere in the 2 pound range. That's better than a gain...

5. Exercise. I don't have to belong to a gym to do this. I am going to exercise in some form or another at least 3 times a week.
I failed royally at this one. I think I worked out intentionally one day all month. Don't get me wrong, I did activities that could be considered exercise but I didn't necessarily look at them as that.

6. Go somewhere out of the area. I live so close to a lot, time to experience and enjoy it.
Planned on going to Carmel, that didn't happen. Dreamed of going to Montana de Oro (near San Luis Obispo) to just sit on the beach alone, had to work yesterday instead (stupid end of the month counting!). Going somewhere out of the area didn't happen this month. But it will next month, I'm going to DC baby!

7. Target is back in the pictures, just in moderation. Time to shop only by a list of needs. And no, that does not mean that I'll be making the list as I shop. :)
I can honestly say that I only went to Target 2 maybe 3 times this month. WOW, I know!

8. Heavily pursue finding a new job.
Heavily pursue... Well, I found out that I was declined for the two potentials that I was interviewing for. So, the pursuing continues.

And for the Lent season I have given up soda.
Still going. But I haven't had a soda since before the Lent season started.

Ouch, my bum!

To start this out... I'm a KLUTZ!

Let me tell you about my Wednesday morning. I was walking down the stairs to go to work. It was about 7:30. I was carrying a puppy, this way he couldn't wander and piddle. Walking down the stairs, walking down the stairs, everyone in the house is sleeping, walking down the stairs. And just like you'd see in a cartoon, I fell. My feet came out from under me and I landed on my butt on a step (carpeted luckily), me head fell back and hit the edge of a step, and the puppy was airborne. I thought I was going to have a headache for the rest of the day. Nope. That went away. But I think I may have fractured my bum bone (the coccyx). It hurts. It's hurts to sit, stand from sitting, squat, bend over, walk, well, you get the picture.

So, moral of the story, no matter how bubbly you think your bum is, if you fall on it just right no amount of padding is going to save you.

The end.

Break me, oh God

I am broken. I feel like my life is in shambles and I'm spiraling out of control. I don't know what's wrong with me, which makes it even harder to deal with, because I don't know what to "fix". But what I do know is that piece by piece God is breaking my hard exterior shell.

I am thankful that God loves me enough that He wants to purify me, to conform me little by little into the likeness of His Son - gentle, broken, and humble before the His throne. I thank Him that He loves me enough to put me in the refiner's fire, a fire that leaves me so exposed and vulnerable, yet a fire that cleanses and purifies me as well. The Holy Spirit is cleansing the sinfulness from my heart and molding me into the likeness of His precious Son. Sometimes blessing comes in the form of pain. Let me not waste my pain, but use it for His glory and for eternal purposes.

God break me. Take my all. Shake me from the core. Cut me down that I might rely solely on You. Lord, my heart remains in your hands, because I know that my life is but a vapor before Your throne. God, change me that I wholeheartedly follow your plans for my life. Transform me that I might think more like You. Grant me the grace to follow Your will and run with Your thoughts.

Often, it is in our weakness, not our strength, that God is glorified, and it is in our brokenness that we find healing. I need to humble myself and let God break me again and again, in order to shape and mold me. God, only You can truly break me and make me new. God, break me even more if it is to Your glory.

Seriously!

Why do I take everything so personally? I seem to take everything that everyone does as a hit against me, then I go sit in a corner and cry (really it's laying on my bed and crying). I didn't get a job I applied, therefore I'm a failure. I didn't get invited to go out with friends, therefore they hate me. A boy I have a crush on doesn't like me back, therefore I'm unlovable. Guys in general seem to not find me attractive (at least no one pursues me), therefore I'm dually unlovable. Why is it so hard for me to accept things the way they are and not take them so personally against myself? Isn't it enough that I am a child of God and that He loves and accepts for just the way I am?

Emo or Angry?

I was curious what the difference was between emo and angry people. So I thought I'd do a little search online for some answers. Unfortunately, my search didn't make it past Wikipedia.com. Read the info below. If you know me, and you know how I've been acting lately, and you have some insight, please share.

EMO:
"Emo is a somewhat ambiguous, controversial slang term most frequently used to describe a fashion or subculture which is usually defined to have roots in punk fashion and subculture, as well as some attributes of gothic fashion and subculture.

More specifically, "when referring to a person's personality and attitude, most definitions of emo hold that an "emo person" is candid about their emotions, sensitive, shy, introverted, broken-hearted, glum, and often quiet. Emo personality is also often connected with writing poetry, which addresses confusion, depression, loneliness, and anger, all resulting from the world's inability to understand the author. Emo poetry uses a combination of any of: a highly emotional tone, stream of consciousness writing, a simple (ABAB) or nonexistent rhyme scheme, references to the flesh, especially the heart, heavy use of dark or depressing adjectives, concern over the mutability of time and/or love, and disregard for punctuation, grammar, and/or spelling. Themes such as life is pain are common.

"Some definitions of emo hold that typical "emo persons" are likely to inflict self-injury, most often by means of cutting, burning, or otherwise mutilating themselves. Some assert that it is cool within the emo subulture to pretend to be suicidal and self-harm, or that participants self-harm purely for personal enjoyment." (1)

ANGRY:
"Anger is a common emotional (physiological and psychological) response to a perceived threat to self or important others, present, past, or future. The threat may appear to be real or imagined. Anger is often a response to the perception of threat due to a physical conflict, injustice, negligence, humiliation or betrayal among other contentions.

"The expression of anger can be through active or passive behaviors. In the case of "active" emotion the angry person "lashes out" verbally or physically at an intended target. When anger is a "passive" emotion it is characterized by silent sulking, passive-aggressive behavior (hostility) and tension." (2)

So which category do I fall at this moment in time with recent emotionalism? I don't think I'm either. Maybe I'm feeling out of odds with myself lately, but I don't believe I'm angry. And I really don't think I'm emo, I just wanted to compare the two.

(1) All emo information found at Wikipedia.com.
(2) Angry information found at Wikipedia.com.

Tips! (and not monetary)

I get a daily e-mail from Daily Candy. And today they had a link to a website called Top Tips For Girls. Check it out, it's a pretty cool website. Have you ever wondered How to Be Happy, How to Polish a Handbag, or How to Solve Bad Breath? Well, this site has tips that readers submit for all to read. I highly recommend bookmarking the page!